Roddy White’s Retirement Ends Speculation He Will Play for the Bucs

TAMPA – This time last year, there was a lot of buzz among Buccaneers fans who wondered if coach Dirk Koetter might try to improve his receiving corps by bringing former Falcon standout Roddy White to Tampa.

That never happened, and if White were to somehow wind up coming to Tampa now it would almost certainly be as a coach or maybe an advisor of some kind because his playing days are over.

White announced his retirement on Friday, leaving the game as the most prolific pass catcher in Falcons history.

The decision comes a year after White was cut by the Falcons, whose decision to let him go was more than justified by one of the best offensive seasons in NFL history.

“I would like to thank (Falcons owner) Arthur Blank and the (Falcons) organization for a great 11 years,’’ White wrote in a series of tweets. “I’m officially retired from football and welcome the second phase of my life.”

White recently explained during a podcast with Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Constitution that he did have some conversations with Koetter about joining the Bucs last year and that there was mutual interest in a reunion.

“I talked to them, too, but it was like, once again, they wanted to know like what I wanted to do,” White said. “And they already had two guys. They already had [Vincent Jackson] and they already had Mike (Evans).

“So it was like, ‘If Roddy comes in, Roddy got to know that he’s not going to be the guy like he used to be.’ And I know that. But at the same time it was like, ‘How happy you going to be being a No. 3 or No. 4 (receiver) not in New England?’

“And the (Bucs) was like, ‘You know, (you’ll] get in on third downs.’ And that would be the only plays I’d be playing. (Koetter) was like, “Are you comfortable playing like 25 snaps in the whole game?’ And I was like, ‘Let me think about that.’’’

White thougt about it all right, and apparently he has decided that if he can’t be the focal point of an offense or at least one of them, it’s no longer worth his time to continue playing.